US working with Taliban to get remaining Americans out of Afghanistan

Speaking at a news conference here with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Qatari counterparts, Mr Blinken said the US has spoken to the Taliban in the past few hours.

Mr Blinken said the latest indication from the Taliban is that they will allow US citizens or others on charter flights if they have all the proper documents, but with mixed groups and without proper identification. will not be given. “Since all these people have been put together, it means the flights have not been allowed to go,” Mr Blinken told reporters.

The Biden administration has faced criticism from Republican lawmakers for leaving US citizens behind, but Mr Blinken has dismissed the idea of ​​a “hostage position” Americans are barred from leaving. Somewhere around 100 US citizens who want to leave are left inside Afghanistan. , he said.

US officials say Taliban officials are pushing Americans and vulnerable Afghans out to consider lifting sanctions, resuming government aid, freeing up funding and potentially normalizing ties with the Taliban-led government. Allowing exit is a primary requirement of the US. Other US requests include creating a government that includes other groups and respects human rights.

Officials on all sides are concerned about security, including flight plans and procedures for verifying passengers.

Qatari officials said they believe international flights from Hamid Karzai International Airport, a key gateway to US efforts to evacuate the remaining Americans and Afghan allies, could begin within days.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the primary challenge of reopening the airport was security for those trying to enter. On August 26, 13 US soldiers were killed and 20 wounded during a suicide bombing at the airport, the deadliest attack in Afghanistan for US forces in a decade. Hundreds of Afghans were killed.

Last week, Qatar and Turkey sent technicians to the airport to determine how to reopen the facility. The US controlled the airport in the final days of its nearly 20-year war as it evacuated Americans and Afghan allies, before the Taliban took control on August 31.

Sheikh Mohamed said there was no agreement with the Taliban to operate the airport in Kabul, but that teams have made progress on restoring the facility to allow international flights in the coming days. “We’ve fixed a lot of elements, and we’re going to have everything up and running very soon,” he said.

Quick travel to Qatar, the site of talks with the Taliban, and a major US airport showed the Persian Gulf country’s importance to past and future work with Afghanistan. The US is dependent on Qatar to host a diplomatic office that serves as an embassy for Afghanistan, to facilitate the arrival of refugees leaving Kabul, and to allow for potential reconnaissance flights and counter-terrorist attacks.

“There isn’t a single piece of land that we can’t reach outside and touch when we need to,” said Mr. Austin.

Yet the focus on strengthening ties with the Gulf countries following a chaotic military withdrawal also reflects the extent of Washington’s ability to influence policy in the Middle East following the exit by North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries and the Taliban. boosts its influence.

Mr Blinken said it was wrong to associate the number of shoes on the ground in the region with the overall level of engagement, a view echoed by Qatar.

“I don’t think there is any connection between what is happening in Afghanistan and how the US views the region,” Sheikh Mohamed said. He said Qatar would continue to “work closely with the US”.

Mr Austin said the US was grateful that Qatar continued to host US troops, adding that ending conflicts is an important goal in the region.

Sheikh Mohammed said on Tuesday that there are currently 4,000 Afghan refugees in Qatar. Another 41,000 have arrived in the US, defense officials said.

Some Americans and thousands of Afghans who worked for the US military and diplomats during the nearly 20-year war remained in Afghanistan after the last US forces left on August 31.

This was Mr. Austin’s first visit to the region as Chief of Defense, although he made several visits here when he headed the US Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East.

The US also said that it hopes to increase cooperation with the Gulf on the growing threat of terrorism. US officials have described the Gulf trip as a “thank you” tour.

The Taliban claimed on Monday that they had overcome the last pocket of resistance in Afghanistan, releasing images they said showed the conquest of the provincial capital of Panjshir, an area the country has been against the group’s takeover. .

A State Department official said the US helped evacuate four US citizens from Afghanistan on Monday through an undisclosed underground route believed to be after the US evacuated soldiers and civilians through Kabul airport last month. This is the first such confirmation from .

The official said the Taliban were aware and did not obstruct the departure of US citizens, who were in good condition and were received by State Department personnel in an undisclosed country bordering Afghanistan.

The US has not specified how it will evacuate the remaining Americans and Afghans from the country.